3.7 million young persons (under 25) are unemployed in the EU

Youth unemployment, 2017

In December 2017, 3.654 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU28, of whom 2.574 million were in the euro area. Compared with December 2016, youth unemployment decreased by 411 000 in the EU28 and by 301 000 in the euro area. In December 2017, the youth unemployment rate was 16.1% in the EU28 and 17.9% in the euro area, compared with 18.0% and 20.3% respectively in December 2016. In December 2017, the lowest rates were observed in the Czech Republic (4.9%), Germany (6.6%) and Estonia (6.8% in November 2017), while the highest were recorded in Greece (40.8% in October 2017), Spain (36.8%) and Italy (32.2%).

The youth unemployment rate is the number of people aged 15 to 24 unemployed as a percentage of the labour force of the same age. Therefore, the youth unemployment rate should not be interpreted as the share of jobless people in the overall youth population.

When data for the most recent month are not available for a Member State, EU and EA aggregates are calculated using the latest data available for that Member State.